Sharmishta Panoli row: Wazahat Khan Qadri, who filed plaint against Instagram influencer ‘untraceable’; FIR registered for insulting posts on Hindu deities

KOLKATA/GUWAHATI: Wazahat Khan Qadri, the man whose FIR led to the arrest of a 22-year-old Instagram influencer and fourth-year law student of a Pune-based university for allegedly hurting religious sentiments in an Instagram video, is "untraceable" since Sunday, a police officer said.

Multiple FIRs have been lodged against Qadri in Kolkata, Assam, and Delhi. In Kolkata, an FIR has been lodged at Golf Green PS. KP cyber cell is probing another plaint filed in Garden Reach PS for denigrating Hindu deities. A case has been registered in Assam against Qadri for allegedly denigrating several Hindu deities, including Goddess Kamakhya. Assam Police have not made any official statement regarding the case till now. It was registered at Panbazar police station in Guwahati.

Based on his abusive posts, two criminal complaints were also lodged in New Delhi for communal provocation aimed at disturbing social harmony. The Shree Ram Swabhiman Parishad also filed a complaint, accusing Khan of mocking Hindu traditions, festivals, and temples to incite communal tensions.

Qadri's father, Saadaq Khan, claimed that there was a "witch hunt" for his arrest ever since the Instagrammer's arrest and denied that he hated any religion, suggesting that Qadri's accounts were probably "hacked". "My son is innocent and secular. He cannot insult Hinduism. We have been receiving threats since Sharmistha's arrest," he said.

"It has come to light that Khan started deleting several of his controversial social media posts as the student's arrest led to increased scrutiny on his accounts," said a police source. The student was arrested late on May 30 in Gurugram by KP and placed in 14-day judicial custody over a controversial video in which she criticised Muslim Bollywood celebrities for staying silent on ‘Operation Sindoor'. According to her lawyer Md Samimuddin, his client is suffering from kidney stones and lacks access to basic amenities, including reading materials and proper hygiene facilities. A petition has been filed seeking to secure her fundamental rights while in custody.